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Group A

The opening match at the historic Azteca venue will replay the first game from 2010, when South Africa tied 1-1 with El Tri. Mexico's elimination stage history at the global tournament includes just a single win, secured against Bulgaria when they last were hosts in 1986. The coach, Javier Aguirre, was a forward in that team and will be targeting a third quarter-final berth as hosts. The South African side, led by experienced Belgian tactician Hugo Broos, secured their place for their first finals since hosting, finishing above Nigeria and Benin despite seeing a victory over Lesotho given against them for using an ineligible player.

It will mark Korea Republic's 11th straight finals appearance. Legend Hong Myung-bo featured in four of those, and came in third place in the Best Player award when South Korea reached the semi-final in 2002. Hong is now their manager and guided them without a loss through a anything but straightforward qualification section. The final side in Group A will be the winner of a European qualifying play-off involving the Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or the Republic of Ireland.

Pool B

The Canadian team have made it for the World Cup twice and, while Qatar 2022 brought their maiden goal, it did not deliver their first-ever finals point. Jesse Marsch is the head coach of arguably the best group of players in their history, with key men like Jonathan David at Juventus and Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich. The extent to which favorable the draw appears depends mostly on whether Italy make it through the European playoff (the remaining three teams are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Wales).

Following failing to qualify in 1998 and 2002, the Swiss have got through the initial phase in four of the past five World Cups and were last-eight participants at the past two European Championships. Murat Yakin’s side booked their ticket without defeat from probably the easiest of the UEFA groups and, with veterans like Ricardo Rodriguez and Granit Xhaka, have players aiming to feature at their fourth World Cups. Qatar, having ended up fourth in their third phase qualification group, were given a significant advantage by being selected as a host for the final round and secured progress with a 2-1 win over the UAE. Julen Lopetegui’s entire squad is selected exclusively from the domestic league.

Pool C

Scotland's return to the finals in 28 years looks a lot like their last outing, when they were defeated to the Seleção and Morocco; Haiti occupy the spot of Norway. Their aim will be to progress to the knockout stage for the very first time after eight previous group-stage eliminations. Haiti’s only prior finals, in 1974, was remembered less for their three losses than for the fate that happened to midfielder Ernst Jean-Joseph who, after failing a doping test, was assaulted by Haitian army officers before being deported. They will have restricted away support due to a travel ban from the USA.

Carlo Ancelotti took over as Brazil’s third coach in a qualifying process that included a run of three consecutive defeats, but there is minimal jeopardy in South American qualifying these days. He has overseen a noticeable improvement. Semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, Morocco look the strongest of the north African nations, able both of overwhelming rivals and playing on the counter, qualifying with a 100% record.

Pool D

At the start of last year, the USA seemed in a dismal state, suffering defeats to Panama and Canada in the Concacaf Nations League and to Turkey and Switzerland in friendlies. But over the past year, Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly begun to get his message across and in November the USA defeated Paraguay before thrashing Uruguay 5-1 in friendlies. They will begin against the Paraguayan side, who are playing in their 6th finals. They have won one game at each of the previous five, a record that has led to both group-stage eliminations and a quarter-final place. Their trademark cautious mindset has not altered: they scored only 14 goals in their 18 games in South American qualification.

This is not the most free-flowing Australia team and their squad lacks obvious stars, but in spite of an shaky beginning to the third round of Asian qualifying, Tony Popovic’s side qualified by beating Japan at home and Saudi Arabia away under immense pressure in their last two matches. The group’s fourth team will come from the victor of the European playoff C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey).

Group E

Following successive group-stage eliminations, Germany are no longer the bogeymen of old. The shift to a more attacking philosophy has brought a vulnerability and the group initially looked like posing a huge test to Julian Nagelsmann’s side. The Ecuadorian team were the revelations of qualification, finishing in second place behind Argentina in South America. Although they scored only 14 goals in 18 games, a defence featuring Willian Pacho of Paris Saint-Germain and Piero Hincapié of Arsenal, protected by Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo, let in a paltry five.

Ivory Coast live in a state of permanent declinism, where nothing is ever quite good as the golden generation of 15-20 years ago. But since assuming control during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, manager Emerse Faé has proved transformative. After an improbable continental triumph on home soil, Côte d’Ivoire were clinical in qualification, netting 25 goals without reply.

The tiniest country ever to qualify, the Curaçao team, were the fourth team drawn, though, making the group look a lot less intimidating than it could have been.

Pool F

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side maybe lack the star quality of previous Dutch generations, but they secured qualification without losing and Memphis Depay, who scored eight goals in qualifying, consistently appears a more reliable performer with his country's side than at domestic level. They open against Japan, who will play in their eighth consecutive finals, and were by some way the most impressive of the Asian nations in qualification, losing one of their 16 games over the two groups, with a total goal difference of 54-3.

Tunisia made sure of a third straight finals berth by dominating a straightforward qualification section, accumulating 28 points of a possible 30. Sami Trabelsi’s squad are perhaps not as defensive as some previous Tunisian teams; they had a staggering 14 separate scorers in qualifying. If Graham Potter’s Sweden make it through the UEFA playoff (against Ukraine in the semi-final, then either Poland or Albania in the final), that will set up a rematch of the group stage game in Dortmund in 1974 when Johan Cruyff first performed the iconic Cruyff Turn.

Pool G

The Belgian Red Devils and the Pharaohs are emerging from the shadow of their most talented generations. Rudi Garcia’s Belgium were inconsistent in qualification, finding the net eight times but letting in five in two wins over Wales, finding goals freely at times, but also struggling to a 1-1 draw away to Kazakhstan.

Egypt are the most decorated side in African history, but having failed to reach the finals during their golden period 15-20 years ago, they have never quite fulfilled their potential on the global stage. Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush give them cutting edge, but it was a defence that allowed just twice in 10 games that ensured they qualified unbeaten.

A guaranteed place for Oceania effectively meant a spot at the finals for the All Whites, who sailed through qualification, winning five games out of five, netting 29 goals, nine of them by Chris Wood, but they are the lowest FIFA-ranked side to have secured their place in North America next summer. Iran, who lost only once in a difficult third-round qualification group, are on a travel ban, possibly